Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has completed class approval testing for its HiMSEN Ammonia Dual-Fuel Engine, a four-stroke model that will be fed by direct high-pressure ammonia fuel injection.
The recent Symposium on Ammonia Energy in Shanghai showcased the latest ammonia energy R&D, including cutting-edge work on catalysts, direct ammonia combustion, large-scale co-firing and industrial ceramics production.
Liebherr and Italy-based Bruno Generators will embark on a joint development project exploring ammonia fuel for off-grid power generation in the mining sector. Building off “promising” results in Liebherr’s own internal trials with ammonia fuel, future applications could include power for heavy vehicles like electric excavators.
The American Bureau of Shipping has granted AiP for two new autonomous technology packages developed by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries: an unmanned ammonia engine room, plus an AI safety package with rapid-response capabilities.
Wärtsilä has been contracted to supply the total technology package for the conversion of the Viking Energy to run on ammonia fuel. The original plan to retrofit the vessel with a 2 MW solid oxide fuel cell system was delayed by supply chain and development challenges, but SOFC developer Alma Clean Power will continue to test and scale its direct ammonia-fed technology for maritime applications.
Ahead of the international Symposium on Ammonia Energy event next month, we recap R&D presented in the second edition of the Journal on Ammonia Energy:
Ahead of the 3rd Symposium on Ammonia Energy in Shanghai next month, we take the opportunity to highlight select papers and key results from the first two editions, starting with the 2022 Cardiff event:
At last month’s MariNH3 conference in Nottingham, a series of keynotes laid out the opportunities and challenges ahead for marine ammonia fuel. Onboard ammonia cracking technologies are moving through testing phases and closer to commercialisation, vessel designers are working through the unique challenges of carrying ammonia fuel onboard, and emissions mitigation technology (in combination with adherence to existing Tier 3 standards) will be necessary to ensure that ammonia-powered vessels are more environmentally-friendly than conventional counterparts.
MAN Energy Solutions has announced that the first SCR catalytic converter for a marine ammonia engine has passed factory tests and been delivered to Japan. Produced in China by stainless steel specialists BUTTING, the unit is designed to significantly reduce NOx emissions from ammonia combustion engines.
Clarksons Research and DNV have provided their analysis of global ship orders for 2023. Last year saw the first orders for ammonia-fueled vessels, with container ships & car carriers dominating the order book for alternative fuel propulsion ships. But UMAS & the Global Maritime Forum warn that the current order book trajectory may only be a fifth of what is needed to achieve the IMO’s 2030 target for alternative fuel uptake.